Category Chamber Pop
FROM SCUD MOUNTAINS TO CHAPPAQUIDICK SKYLINES: The Geography Of Joe Pernice + Hick Rock With The Lonesome Bros
“I hate my life,” Joe Pernice confides with a strange, almost carnal tenderness. “Don’t be alarmed if someday soon you hear I’ve gone away.” Before the song’s over, he’ll change the “if” to “when”, and as the tune dissolves into the distance, Pernice sounds more certain than ever.
OLD GODS HIDING IN LONG GRASS: The Clientele’s Music for the Age of Miracles
Oh, hi there! Don’t mind the bobbing balloons and confetti streaming about, kids. We’re just having a little party. You see, here in the comfy, wood-paneled confines of RPM HQ, we’ve been celebrating the fact that one of our most beloved bands of the past fifteen-plus years, the Clientele, are back — at least for […]
FLASHING STAR: The Gorgeous Gospel of Kevin Junior’s Chamber Strings
Not nearly enough people got the chance (or took the time) to listen to the music Kevin Junior made during his short lifetime, which ended one year ago today at age 46. But there’s a good chance that most of those who did have never forgotten what they heard. And hear still. Today we’re remembering […]
THE MERITS OF STEPHIN: The Enduring Attraction (69 Love Songs’ Worth) of The Magnetic Fields
The news that Merge is gearing up for a “69 Love Songs” vinyl reissue campaign — with the first run of 1,000 copies being pressed on colored vinyl (for geeks like us who care about such things) — feels a little like re-discovering and savoring a half-forgotten love letter that you cherished and then, eventually, tucked away in a drawer with your memories. (Or, in our case, massive filing cabinets stuffed with CDs).
FIVE LEAVES AND A LEGEND LEFT: Nick Drake’s Sacred, Secret History On Imagined Airwaves
Forty-five years ago, in September 1969, Nick Drake’s debut album, “Five Leaves Left,” was released. Nick only made three records in his all-too-short 26 years. It was a third of a lifetime, really; a brief flicker of a brilliant, glowing candle snuffed out far too soon, before the daylight had a chance to break. Each of […]
RPM: Jonathan Perry's Life in Analog 